collegiatetimes.com
112th YEAR, ISSUE 212
March 2, 2017
COLLEGIATETIMES An independent, student-run newspaper serving the Virginia Tech community since 1903
Man robs local mosque, case remains active A mosque in the New River Valley lost an estimated $800–1000. LEWIS MILLHOLLAND managing editor
KAILA NATHANIEL / COLLEGIATE TIMES An art professor and a visual communication design professor are collaborating with the Mechanical Engineering Department to create 3-D printed body panels (not shown) for the humanoid ESCHER robot, March 1, 2017.
Revolution by robot
First glance at future of firefighting ESCHER, Virginia Tech’s full-sized humanoid, is a flame-resistant robot that blends artistic and mechanical elements for rescue purposes. CLAIRE CONNOR news reporter
Virginia Tech’s Visual Arts Depa r t ment a nd Engi neer i ng Department have been joining forces to design ESCHER, a firefighting robot. ESCHER was originally created at the beginning of 2015 in the Terrestrial Robotics Engineering and Controls Laboratory. ESCHER is short for Electronic Series Compliant Humanoid for Emergency Response. “The special application for this project is the idea that ESCHER could go on naval ships and fight fires and go places that would normally be hazardous to humans,” said Meaghan Dee, assistant professor and chair of Visual Communications. “If you think of something like the Fukushima Disaster, you could have just sent in a robot, and that’s what these emergency robots are designed to do.” In late 2015, ESCHER competed in the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) challenge, led by Professor Tomonari Furukawa, Associate Professor Alexander Leonessa and Affiliate Professor Dr. Brian Lattimer. The competition tests a robot’s ability to perform complicated tasks in a mock disaster scenario. “ESCHER is one of the lightestweight, low-noise and longest run-time, full-size humanoids in the challenge,” Lattimer explained to VT News before the competition. ESCHER is a full-size robot standing at 5 feet and 10 inches and weighing roughly 165 pounds. It’s programmed with a walking and balancing algorithm that allows it to move across terrain and react to disturbances. Recently, a team of artists and engineers have been collaborating to create high resistance paneling for ESCHER’s exterior that will allow it to withstand extreme heat, impact and water. The team received a grant of $25,000 from The Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology (ICAT) for the protective
paneling, which they’ve been using to complete color, form and brand studies to improve the exterior appearance of ESCHER. According to the website, the primary purpose of the body paneling is to “promote familiarity with the human workers it interacts with on the job” as well as provide “environmental protection, impact resistance to vulnerable elements and high visibility.” In addition to Lattimer and Dee, the exterior paneling team consists of Sam Blanchard, assistant professor of studio art at the School of Visual Arts, and Phat Nguyen, a graduate student in Creative Technologies program at Virginia Tech. Graham Day was also a main contributor to the paneling. Their backgrounds range from working on 3D interactive sculptures to designing, fielding and fabricating robots. The ESCHER artists and engineers see ESCHER / page 3
At around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, a man entered the Islamic Society of New River Valley mosque (ISNRV) through an unlocked basement window. The intruder broke the locks off of the collection boxes and stole the previous day’s donations, which mosque officials estimate to be $800–1,000. Two days later, a Virginia Tech student launched a GoFundMe campaign for the local community and members’ relatives living elsewhere to support the ISNRV. In the mere seven-and-a-half hours the campaign was live, contributions totaled $3,685. ISNRV officials asked the student to suspend the campaign until the police conclude their investigation. The mosque is not sure if the funds raised will ultimately be collected — that will depend on the outcome of the investigation, among other factors. Regardless, the sentiment had a significant impact on the congregation. A Blacksburg-local doctoral student who has attended the mosque for nearly 20 years shared his experience of scrolling through the list of donors on the GoFundMe page. “A lot of times when you see something like this, it’s usually just Muslim names, but to see non-Muslim names, to see Americans, and getting messages from people … it’s refreshing to hear, it’s really, really nice,” the local said. (This article refers to the local as X in order to respect the ISNRV member’s request
to remain anonymous while the investigation remains active.) When the congregation first learned of the burglary later on Saturday, X said “most people were upset” and “people were wondering whether or not they were safe.” However, since no property was damaged other than the collection boxes, mosque leaders concluded that the crime was motivated by financial gain rather than prejudice.
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We made a point not to vilify this individual. Had he come in with malicious intent ... perhaps our view of him would be different.”
Islamic Society of New River Valley member
After this announcement, members “seemed to be more at ease, (and) felt safer.” Regular services were held that same day. “We’ve made a point not to vilify this individual. Had he come in with malicious intent and a spray can and those sort of things, perhaps our view of him would look different,” X said. “He seemed to be someone who may have been in need, so we don’t necessarily think this person was evil, or bad.” A recently installed security system captured much of the incident. Video see ROBBERY / page 3
Hokies exit ACC McAlister’s falls short of Panera tournament after McAlister’s Deli is new to Blacksburg, but when this Mississippi-based restaurant chain goes up against Panera, it doesn’t exactly measure up. loss to Clemson Despite another double-double from Regan Magarity, the Hokies lost a onepoint heartbreaker to the Tigers. TODD SMITH women’s basketball beat reporter
Wednesday afternoon marked the beginning of the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament in Conway, Sout h Ca rol i na. T he Virginia Tech Hokies, who came in as the 12 seed in the tournament, were part of the opening tip against the 13-seed Clemson Tigers. After a promising start to the season, Virginia Tech suffered yet another heartbreaking setback, falling to Clemson 67–66 on a go-ahead free throw with one second left. The Hokies came in on a high note, after snapping their 11-game losing streak on Sunday against last place Boston College, improving their record to 17–12 (4–12 in the ACC). Clemson, on the other hand, came limping into the ACC tournament riding a four-game losing streak of its own and a sub .500 record of 14–15 (3–13 ACC).
The previous meeting between these two teams in early January featured an almost completely different Virginia Tech squad that entered the affair 14–0 and ranked 18th in the country. The result that day also differed from Wednesday’s game, as the Hokies won 78–69. Forward Regan Magarity needed to be relied upon heavily, as Virginia Tech was once again without senior leader Sidney Cook for the second consecutive game with a concussion suffered early in last Thursday’s home game. To her credit, Magarity was coming off one of her best games of the year, where she posted 26 points and 16 rebounds. Magarity followed up Sunday’s per for ma nce with another stellar performa nc e, not ch i ng yet another double-double, finishing with 24 points and 14 rebounds. see ACC / page 4
LACROSSE RECAP The No. 19 lacrosse team lost to Elon in overtime, 12–13. page 6
MEGAN MAURY CHURCH food columnist
When McAlister’s Deli opened a new location in Blacksburg last fall, many of us were unfamiliar with the popular southern chain. The chain has been around since 1989, but has opened very few locations outside the Bible Belt. Apart from one deli in New York and one in Pennsylvania, Virginia is the northernmost state on the East Coast with McAlister’s locations.
So what is McAlister’s? One of my coworkers described it as a mix between Sub Station II and Panera. I would add a flare of Cook Out into the mix because McAlister’s is truly southern. Side items on the menu include signature sweet tea, which is in all ways reflective of its Mississippi heritage, and an entire submenu titled Giant Spuds. When explaining this new-tous southern deli to northerners and northern Virginia natives, people who are familiar with McAlister’s
frequently compare it to Panera. For an introduction, this is an adequate comparison, as both are categorized as fast casual restaurants and feature sandwich-heavy menus. However, despite the fundamental similarities between the two, Panera and McAlister’s are far from identical. It’s not comparing apples to apples or apples to oranges; it’s more like comparing apples to apple pie. McAlister’s Deli is the apple. Its see DELI / page 5
ARMAHN RASSULI / COLLEGIATE TIMES The Mississippi-based chain restaurant McAlister’s Deli is located off of Prices Fork Road, March 1, 2017.
SPRING BREAK SANGRIA
Sangria is perfect for every spring break plan. page 5
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